New York Times vol. 44 no. 13566

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SOLD TO REPUBLICANS
Utah Auctioned Off by George Q. Cannon.
AN ECCLESIASTICAL "PULL"
Which Is Mighty in Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, and Nevada.
EIGHT SENATORSHIPS INVOLVED
Cannon Seems to Have Made a Polit-ical Deal to Help His Bus-iness Enterprises. THERE ARE TRACES OF SUGAR TRUST
Cannon's Son Becomes a Delegate to Congress—Is He Looking To-ward the Senate?
I.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 12.—With-out doubt the most remarkable figure in the Rocky Mountains, and one of the most conspicuous developments of recent times is to be found, in Utah. The late political contest here, which resulted in the election of a Republican Delegate to Congress by a community recognized for years as over-whelmingly Democratic is the culmination of a domination which has its strength in a strong religious prejudice.
The revolution was as startling and as striking, although of an absolutely different nature as was the election of Mayor Strong in New-York City last November. Sitting in the Fifth Avenue Hotel a week after the downfall of the Tammany Tiger, the cor-respondent of The New-York Times heard comments on the defeat of the powerful Tammany organization, which were similar to those heard in many parts of this would-be State. The revolution here still excites comment in both parties.
The Mormon people had their prophet, Joseph Smith—a bold, strong man, and pro-phetic beyond cavil to those that believed in the prophetic. Then came Brigham Young, a man of courage, far-seeing, of profound and statesmanlike sagacity. Since the death of the latter the one man whose … its people beyond the views of all others is George Q. Cannon. Worthy or unworthy as a successor to power, none can deny Mr. Cannon's strength. His sway, however, has been extended under different conditions and by different methods from those of the strong men preceding him. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young exerted direct influ-ence. Mr. Cannon, in his ways, is so im-personal, so indirect, that rarely any public indication of the exertion of his influence is discernible.
Chief Counselor of the Church.
One of the twelve apostles at the death of Brigham Young—but one of mark, Mr. Cannon—became the Chief Counselor, or one of the quorum of the first Presidency, when John Taylor succeeded to the Presi-dency of the Church. The same position he holds with Wilford Woodruff, who suc-ceeded John Taylor. He has been recog-nized as the power behind the throne since the death of Brigham Young. While in their younger days both John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff were strong men, they were advanced in years when the Church leadership foil upon them. It is therefore not surprising that a man of Mr. Cannon's seemingly devout determination to serve should be able to mold affairs to his own mind, if not to his own ends.
The result of his life's work is viewed variously, even by those of his own faith, but it cannot be forgotten, despite the trials and losses besetting his people, that Mr. Cannon and his family have continued to wax strong in numbers, to become noted in local finances, to gain strength in Church affairs, and to succeed in political direc-tions. A man as devout as Mr. Cannon must give credit to Providence for these manifold manifestations of Divine approval. The scoffer will declare that Providence has not chosen fruitless soil, nor failed to employ in the work of advancing the Can-non interests intellects keen enough to take advantage of the opportunities bountifully spread before them.
The general advancement of the Cannon family and the singular alienation of the Mormon people from an old and strong po-litical bias constitute a singular coinci-dence. This coincidence, viewed in the light of approaching Statehood for Utah, and mindful of the impress of thought and feeling imposed by her people upon sur-rounding States, gives to the conditions in Utah an importance that is far from being local in its effects.
In Arizona, in Idaho, in Wyoming, in Ne-vada, are Mormon communities whose every aspiration is in perfect touch with the Mormon people in Utah. With the great parties nearly evenly divided, the weight of the Mormon vote in any of the Govern-mental sub-divisions named would deter-mine which party should succeed.
Visit from Clarkson and Manley.
The presence in Salt Lake City of Gen. J. S. Clarkson and Joe Manley immediately succeeding the recent Republican victory in Utah can hardly be deemed an accident. As Utah goes so also will go Idaho and Wy-oming and Arizona, (when the latter is admitted to Statehood,) and thus eight United States Senators may be controlled, while Nevada may also be swayed to like action. Here, therefore, is a condition sufficiently important to attract the atten-tion and command the interest of the prac-tical politician, as well as to excite the desire for control in those vested interests whose great earnings depend so vitally upon their power to direct legislation. In re-spect to Senators, Utah alone is as im-portant as New-York or Louisiana. When it becomes clear that as Utah goes so also will go Wyoming, Idaho, and Arizona, and when the value of the help which that will give to the Republican Party and to the trusts is understood, the Senators from these localities may not be overestimated.
With this explanation, the high position of a man of Mr. Cannon's peculiar methods may more clearly be understood. In this relationship he stands out as the most im-portant and unique character in the West. The value of his co-operation has not been overestimated by Republicans the Nation over; it has not been overestimated by the far-seeing Democrats in Utah, though seemingly Ignored by the national leaders of the party. That the possible outcome may be predicted, it is perhaps well to know what manner of man this George Q. Cannon is, and this must be judged from history alone—for, as has al-ready been stated, his life, work, aspira-tions, and even religious bias, are matters on which his own people possess no uniform opinion—many of the humbler and more devout having strong faith in him, many of the more worldy, especially those as-sociated with him in business, viewing him as a man who possesses much and helps himself.
Many Elements of Power.
Take the leader of Tammany Hall in New-York, for his power, purely political; add the traction magnate In Philadelphia for the business element of statesmanship; add the white-haired, ruddy-faced plantation owner of the Southern States for the fam-ily connections and traditional influence, and you have some of the salient elements. He is a quiet man away from home. I have seen him in the Hoffman House in New-York City, reading a dozen newspapers in half an hour, entering and leaving the hotel by the ladies' entrance, dining alone in the café, always evidently thinking of something far away, good-natured, and dip-lomatically genial if approached.
He is a man of very large family, so large that his own followers have been heard to declare that offices of emolument in the gift of the people could not be creat-ed fast enough to supply his steadily-in-creasing progeny. This utterance is, of course, extreme. His family, however, is large, and he does manifest a proper and fatherly interest in seeing that they are not unprovided for, even though it be at the public expense.
II.
His only known income has been the amount allowed by the Church to its twelve Apostles and its Presidency—about $ 3,000 a year each. Mr. Cannon could not have sup-ported his family on this money, and facts show that it has not been done. His name is found associated with the largest en-terprises in the Territory. He is a miner, a merchant, a real estate owner, a banker, a railroad proprietor, a manufacturer, a farmer, a publisher, an editor, an ecclesiast, the owner of coal fields, a cattle raiser, a promoter of power and other enterprises, and withal a politician. With so large a family, with such a limited income, yet' with such varied interests, it is not supris-ing that many envious ones should question the ways of Mr. Cannon and intimate that he is not above utilizing his ecclesastical opportunities to aid himself and family financially.
Despite the fact that Brigham Young was opposed to mining, Mr. Cannon is engaged in this pursuit. It came about through cer-tain so-called "consecrated" stock.
Mr. Cannon Became a Miner.
A man named. John Beck discovered the Bullion Beck mining claim, and, after the ships, proved that he had a mine. But he was beset with difficulties. He was a de-vout man, and a Mormon. He appealed to his ecclesiastical superiors, among whom was Mr. Cannon, and the result was that Mr. Beck "consecrated" a certain inter-est in his mine, and stock in this mine fell to Mr. Cannon. He did not pay for it, though promising to do so, and by way of compromise part of the stock was returned, Mr. Cannon retaining the balance for nothing. Then the mine made money and the stock became valuable. Mr. Cannon demanded back the interest he had yielded Mr. Beck, in lieu of paying him, and offered to pay for the surrendered stock. Mr. Beck ob-jected, but Mr. Beck was, and is, very careless about money matters, while Mr. Cannon seems to be the reverse. So a time came when Beck needed money. Mr. Can-non loaned Beck his personal influence, and then forced the unfortunate Beck, his re-ligious brother, to agree to pay him some $35,000 for the stock Mr. Cannon had never paid for, and which he had voluntarily re-leased. There are said to have been sur-face indications of many nasty things con-nected with the Bullion Beck mining inter-ests, but Mr. Cannon has held on, and that is how he became and is a miner.
An Owner of Real Estate.
For years the Church was engaged in va-rious business pursuits, Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution among others. When the Government took steps to close the busi-ness career of the Church, its stocks were divided up, and its real estate as well, and Mr. Cannon's sons and brother became own-ers of property which is said still to remain in their names. A few are free to declare that the Church has not been paid for all this. No one could prove such a statement, the Church accounts and records being kept from the public eye, and from the knowl-edge even of Church members on the ground that this information might enable Govern-ment officials to dispossess the Church, though why this precaution was necessary, if individuals instead of the Church owned the property, is not explained, unless to avoid unprofitable exposures for those hav-ing distributed the Church's vast and diver-sified interests. But no one can prove that the Church has not been paid for the prop-erty indicated by those possessing it. And so he became a real estate owner.
So He Became a Banker.
At an early day a number of persons high in Church influence organized Zion's Trust and Savings Bank. Mr. Cannon was one of them. The envious declare it was start-ed with the notes of the organizers in lieu of money—a palpable violation of law—and that the devoted and humble followers, hav-ing as much faith in the bank projectors financially as they yielded to them relig-iously, gave these gentlemen charge con-cerning their earnings, just as they had already given them charge concerning their spiritual guidance. Be all this as it may, the bank grew, and is to-day a financial factor in Utah, and Mr. Cannon is one of its principal men. So he became a banker.
An Ecclesiastical Merchant.
He is a Director in Zion's Co-operative and Mercantile Institution, that colossal es-tablishment founded by the late Brigham Young. By virtue of his connection with the Church, Mr. Cannon is a Director and a figure of import in control of this great store. So also is President Woodruff, de-spite his eighty-eight years. So also is Joseph F. Smith. These gentlemen consti-tute the Presidency of the Mormon Church and are leading influences in the concerns of Zion's Co-operative and Mercantile Insti-tution by reason of their ecclesiastical posi-tions. So Mr. Cannon became a merchant.
And Next an Editor.
Mr. Cannon is a man of undoubted liter-ary ability. He has been a deep reader of history. He is a public speaker of much ease, and would have been one of great power but for the fear steadily grown upon him that he would say something in his ad-dresses which, in later times, would rise to confront and annoy him. The conse-quence has been an excess of caution as to utterances which have destroyed a gift both for writing and for speaking, striking enough to have made another man marked. Out of all this has come the inevitable product of disguised feelings—a permeating air of insincerity, a constant questioning in the public mind as to the views of this man. Placed in a position where people turned to him for light, he has deliberately refused to emit, though he writes much and speaks much, and controversies are frequent among his own people, not alone as to his political views, but as to his convictions on matters no less important, though perhaps at times occupying less of public attention. He is editor, publisher, and owner of The Juvenile Instructor, a Church work supposedly for juveniles, but containing, nevertheless, doc-trine for the old. And so he became an editor.
At Length a Publisher.
George Q. Cannon & Sons own The Con-tributor, a Church publication. They do the printing for The Woman's Exponent and for The Historical Record, both Church publica-tions.
No Church work of any kind is published except by George Q. Cannon & Sons.
The recent history of Utah, from the gift-ed pen of Bishop O. F. Whitney, is now controlled by George Q. Cannon & Sons.
The Deseret Evening News, The Deseret Semi-Weekly News, and The Deseret Week-ly News are owned by the sons of Mr. Can-non. They are Church organs. The faithful are asked to contribute to the sustenance of all these varied publications as a matter of duty. When they have done so, they have, in the goodness of their faithful hearts, also contributed to the support of the progeny of this singular man, as well as to support this singular man himself. And so he be-came a publisher.
One of Mr. Cannon's sons is the editor of the leading Mormon newspaper, The Evening News. Another is to represent the Mormon people in Congress, as Delegate, and still another is a member of the Twelve Apostles and hat; control of the financial end of these varied publications, the latter being the apostolic son of Mr. Cannon. Mr. Cannon's brother (Angus) is President of the principal geographical Church subdi-vision; another brother presides over an-other subdivision, while Mr. Cannon him-self is recognized and conceded to be the controller and director of the Church's af-fairs in everything but name.
III.
Some four years ago, after considerable investigation, it was determined that sugar could be manufactured at a profit in Utah from beets. The General Government sub-sequently gave a bounty and the Territory also gave restricted encouragement by bounty. Utah from end to end was can-vassed for subscriptions, and the aid of the Church through the First Presidency was invoked to induce the faithful to take from their little savings and contribute toward the encouragement and establishment of this institution. President Woodruff's name was freely used, and, despite the mixed feel-ings and views of the saints as to Mr. Cannon, it must be confessed that the peo-ple love and still believe Mr. Woodruff to be absolutely honest, though by no means as worldly wise as the younger a… forehanded members of his p… quorum The story was established; Mr. Cannon was, as usual, a prime factor in it, and he is to this day, though his per-sonal holdings are not believed to be very large. And so he became a manufacturer.
The Church's Beach Pavilion.
About this time, also, the bathing in the Great Salt Lake had become a great tempta-tion to the people by reason of the unusual attractions at Garfield Beach—the proper-ty of the Union Pacific Railroad. It must be admitted that the morals of the people were not improved by the Sunday and night trains to and from the resort. The Church dignitaries, mindful that the people must have amusement, cast about for such re-lease from these Sabbath desecrations as would be more effective than the weekly and unheeded admonition, of the pulpit and of the Church press. At last it was found that members of the Church owned a beach in no wise inferior to that at Garfield, in some respects superior, and also much near-er. This discovery and the anxiety to save the people from that sinful contamination to which association at Garfield Beach sub-jected them, crystallized in a plan to con-struct a railroad from the city, and es-tablish a new resort. The Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railway—fifteen miles long—and the Saltair Pavilion (the latter unequaled in this or any other section) were the results. The conception and execution are worthy each other and deserve the ad-miration of all who behold them. But this work contracted the finances of the project-ors to a point where they were unable to carry the self-imposed load. Hard times came on. The great Temple at Salt Lake was nearing completion, and calls were made on the people to contribute to the speedy opening of this grand edifice, that it might the sooner be dedicated to its sa-cred purposes.
A Railroad Proprietor.
It is said that, between the anxiety of the First Presidency to get the temple finished and to protect their Saltair interests, cer-tain moneys given for the express use of the temple accidentally found their way into the coffers of the Saltair Company. Of course, this accident could only happen where the funds of both institutions were controlled by and passed through the same set of hands. And so Mr. Cannon became a railroad proprietor.
Another coincidence—and one may be for-given a little surprise at the frequency of coincidences-in all these details—is that when the bathing resort, built to preserve the saints from contact with evil-minded and pleasure-seeking people had been fin-ished, there ceased to appear in the columns of the Church organ (owned by Mr. Can- non's sons and edited by one of them) those weighty articles against desecrating the Sabbath by relaxation at the lake. The pulpit, it is also declared, was silent, despite the fact that sacred concerts for the Sab-bath, (up stairs—a bar rich in liquors down stairs,) and dances for week nights, were the rage at the new pavilion. I am told that the sacred concerts even received a pulpit indorsement, so changed became the sentiment when the saints gathered at their own resort, helped through with temple funds, and having the backing of that re-markable man, George Q. Cannon.
He Became a Promoter.
About this time money became more diffi-cult of procurement, tithing payments by the people were diminishing, the bounty was withdrawn from sugar, litigation was imminent in his mining interests, and collec-tions on publications owned by George Q. Cannon & Sons became well-nigh impossible. It could not, therefore, be otherwise than that a man of Mr. Cannon's public spirit and various investments should feel somewhat the weight of financial misfortune. To avert a general disaster, other incorpora-tions were conceived, and that the breath of suspicion might not in justice be turned against these schemes Presidents Wood-ruff and Joseph F. Smith were made par-ties with Mr. Cannon in these new organi-zations. A colossal power-dam scheme was projected at Ogden, and Mr. F. J. Cannon, the political son of this remarkable man, was put to the fore. This held public at-tention for a while. And so Mr. Cannon became a promoter.
Then a Projector of Railroads.
Then the Utah Company was formed. It is capitalized at $10,000,000. This company is possessed of Saltair Beach, the Inland Salt Company's lands, the Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railway, and some six hundred acres of coal lands in Summit County, Utah, which, until the Utah Company organiza-tion was made public, had popularly been looked upon as the property of the Church or its people. However, by the organization of the Utah Company, with its colossal cap-ital, it became evident that any right of the Church as a whole to these really valuable coal lands had entirely vanished, as the pub-lic press announced, and announced clearly, even in the columns of the Church organ, The News, edited by Mr. Cannon's news-paper son, that, while all three of the First Presidency of the Church were members of the Utah Company, the investment was a personal one, and was not made by them as members of the Church: Thus it ap-peared that Saltair, with its temple contri-butions, and the coal fields, with their Church associations, had at last found an abiding place, where their ownership would no longer be disputed. Iron mines in Iron County, and the sugar factory at Lehi, were also to be absorbed by this company. There is nothing conceivable in the way of invest-ment or industrial development, from bank-ing to cattle raising, from railroad building to giving spectacular ballets at Saltair, that the charter of the Utah Company does not permit. And so Mr. Cannon became a rail-road projector.
An Enterprise That Droops.
When the incorporation of this stupendous Company was announced, it was officially de-clared that there was already behind it an abundance of Utah money, and that work was to begin at once—work that would vi-talize every incipient and drooping industry. But work has not yet commenced, and three or four times Mr. Cannon and his political son have made trips to Eastern financial centres, with the avowed purpose of raising money to build railroads and do the other things that the Utah Company was ostensi-bly organized to promote. Despite the fact that encouraging reports always have been sent to the Utah press, which are greedily sought for and published as rays of glad-dening light, the money has not yet been procured.
IV.
And there are those who are free to aver that this Utah company was organized that it might secure to Mr. Cannon financial aid and continue him in political control of the Territory, and that, in the effort to se-cure money for his projects, he has been Willing to pledge such manipulation of poli-tics in the new State as will answer all the desires of those advancing the heeded funds. Since Republican money is made largely by investments which are followed by political control, it is explained that the change of heart or support by Mr. Cannon of Republicanism may be thus accounted for.
It must be clear that Mr. Cannon has accomplished all that has been said of him by reason of his Church connections. In every phase of his life, in every design foreshadowed by existing conditions, in every accomplished fact, we see the work-ing of a mind that recognizes the religious bias of a people ready to be guided and a Willingness on the part of Mr. Cannon to Utilize the faith of the people to all the tends he may wish to accomplish.
He knows but one way to bring about re-sults—by the use of the people of his faith. They are his mine, since their tithing is yielded tip to his disposition; they are his political henchmen, since they heed his… of things they are his guarantee before m… be done herea…, as is shown in the successes of the past. It is, there-fore, little wonder that he should in the hour of need strive to discount the results of the future by pledging continued control where he has so long been supreme.
As a Politician.
No one but Mr. Cannon knows absolutely Mr. Cannon's political motives, or can ac-curately fathom the political ends he is striving for. Viewing him without prejudice, his methods warrant the belief that he takes kindly to that peculiar process of de-duction which is said to be the distinguish-ing characteristic of the Jesuit. I am told of many things which lead to the inevitable conclusion that with Mr. Cannon the end warrants the means employed always. And the result of the recent election in Utah seems to make plain the determination of Mr. Cannon to throw the weight of his in-fluence with Republicans, as against the party he has hitherto sided with, and to which he, in common with the Mormon people generally, turned when in search of relief from oppressive, if not unfair, legis-lation.
For several years Mr. Cannon represented the people of Utah in Congress. Like his predecessors and his successors, he took his seat with Democrats in the House in all the years that the Republicans had control of the Government. What better evidence could be had of the Democracy of Utah's saints than the sending year after year to Congress to represent them one of their mighty men, who always ranged himself with Democrats? This undeniable fact is what gives rise to so much discussion as to the apparent efforts of Mr. Cannon now, and the semi-official action of the Church in reversing the precedents of forty years only when the political son of Mr. Cannon enters the arena as a Republican against a stalwart, upright, honorable Democrat, whose work for Utah's people in the space of one session of Congress has been so Unusual as to challenge not alone the won-der, but the admiration, of all fair-minded people.
V.
When Mr. Cleveland was first elected President there was great rejoicing all through Utah, for it was then believed that a friend, the chief of a friendly party, had at length been chosen by the people of the Whole Nation to the Presidency. Mr. Cleve-land had heard the Mormon side of the controversy then raging; and, while the Edmunds-Tucker law was pending, W. L. Scott of Pennsylvania drafted an amend-ment to that bill which, in effect, provided that the law under consideration should remain inoperative until to the Mormon peo-ple was given time to adopt or refuse to adopt a Constitution in which the practice of polygamy should forever be prohibited. All this while the laws passed by Republicans were vigorously being pushed against Mor-mons by Republican hold-over officers, so vigorously that some were in the peniten-tiary while George Q. Cannon was out on $45,000 bail, (a bail he forfeited rather than face the Republican Judge, one Zane.)
This state of affairs, as has already been noted, was in existence when Mr. Scott prepared this amendment to the Edmunds-Tucker bill. It was submitted to the heads of the Mormon Church. They were asked to approve the plan, and I have had it as-serted to the in most solemn terms that the answer was that the Mormon people could not surrender this principle of polygamy. This answer, it is declared, was signed by George Q. Cannon and others.
They Surrendered Polygamy.
Again, in 1887, the Mormon people held a Constitutional Convention. Wholly by the direction of the Church, that convention voted to put a clause in the proposed State Constitution by which the practice of polyg-amy was forever to be prohibited. This was less than six months from the time when the Church authorities had declared the Mormon people should never surrender this principle of their faith, the practice of which they held was commanded and en-joined by the Almighty. I have had men tell me that when this provision was before the members of the Constitutional Con-vention, they asked what they could say to the wives taken by them under Divine au-thority. What name they could give to the children born under this so-called celestial covenant when they had proclaimed by the Constitution of the proposed State that they would no longer support this doctrine. With tears in their eyes and shame in their hearts, it is said these men asked if this provision of revocation was the will of God. And the answer was, "It is the will of the Presidency, which should be the will of God to you," and the provision was adopted.
The “Test Oath” in Idaho.
Then came the anti-Mormon legislation in the new State of Idaho. A test oath was passed which made it impossible for Mor-mons to vote without the certainty of the penitentiary awaiting them. That this law was the work of Republicans is shown by the fact that William Budge—the leading Mormon in Idaho—and Charles W. Nibley, his son-in-law, and others urged a great many of the Mormon people to withdraw from the Church, that by so doing they might vote for John Hailey, the Democratic nominee for Representative to Congress from that State. Any person acquainted with the history of Mormons will compre-hend that neither William Budge nor C. W. Nibley, however unscrupulous, would dare engage in such an infamous undertaking without the sanction of the chief Church officials, and the general feeling is that there was not then any other chief than Mr. Cannon, any more than there is now any other chief. The advice was followed by some, and they left the Church forever.
Then came the proclamation of the Church authorities, promising that no more polygamous marriages should be solemnized or permitted by the Church in Utah- a proclamation which has, I be-lieve, been faithfully observed. Then the local parties in Utah began to disappear—People's Party and Liberal Party—and they were supplanted Democratic and Republic.
VI.
The people were overwhelmingly Demo-cratic. All their associations, all their friends, all their hopes had been centred in that party. The first general election showed this clearly. The first Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph P. Smith—solemnly and under oath declared that the Church would take its hands off, and that the people were free to vote and act politically as they pleased. That Mr. Woodruff was and has been sin-cere no one disbelieves, but numerous sus-picious circumstances surround Messrs. Cannon and Smith, which have caused many to question their honesty in this regard. Singularly enough, a new idea found very wide circulation among the saints immediately after their division on national party lines, viz.: that it was not in the interest of the Mormon people that they should all vote one way. On the con-trary, they should be as nearly evenly divided as possible. There are Church offi-cials who have been heard to announce publicly from the pulpit that it was the wish of the first Presidency that the people should be nearly evenly divided. The rea-son for such a doctrine, after the teach-ing to the people for years that they should see eye to eye, and be as one man in all the concerns of life can readily be seen in a determination to retain control politically by having the people so evenly divided that the "weight of a yellow dog," as one man put it, would decide the election. Church understrappers, according to existing affi-davits, used these arguments privily, and declared that the leaders of the Church felt Republican success in Utah was nec-essary to the material salvation of the saints. Proofs of flagrant interference were submitted, yet the understrappers still oc-cupy their Church positions, and it is freely declared they retain these positions because Mr. Cannon so wills it. A no-torious case was that of one G. F. Gibbs, a person of most ordinary parts, mentally as well as physically, and who is other-wise cited here only because of a later con-nection of his.
Sudden Change of Doctrine.
Pronounced Democrats began suddenly to advocate Republican doctrines. Such men as William Budge and C. W. Nibley—al-ready referred to in disgraceful connection in trying to get Mormons to leave the Church to vote the Democratic ticket in Idaho—began to out-Herod Herod in be-half of Republican doctrines. The effect of all this was manifest in Republican gains in a later legislative election in the Territory. To bring about this end most unusual means must have been employed, the details of which are too lengthy, but show, nevertheless, that a strong religious undercurrent, coming from a potent yet unknown source, was working ceaselessly in Republican interests. In 1893, with still a plurality, Democrats lost and Republic-ans gained control of the Legislature. In 1894 the political son of Mr. Cannon de-feated the Democratic nominee in the Con-gressional election by nearly 2,000 votes, and certain Church influences are responsi-ble for it—perhaps not for the immediate result, but by the infinite number of un-published ways peculiar to men long accus-tomed to and familiar with this method of manoeuvring, men high in ecclesiastical power, the end was achieved. Who will say Mr. Cannon is not a politician?
It seems impossible that such a result could have been brought about without the cognizance and certain support of such a man as Mr. Cannon. Not until within two months of the recent election did Mr. Can-non in any public, way give evidence of any political preference, if then.
Cannon Turned Republican.
It must not be forgotten that, all the while those quiet methods were being pur-sued which resulted in the ungrateful de-bauchery of the people, the manifold mate-rial interests of Mr. Cannon were also reaching a climax, and the existence of the Utah Company, with its $10,000,000 capital, though it had been organized months be-fore, was only made public, simultaneously with the proclamation in all the morning papers that Mr. Cannon's political son was the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for Delegate to Congress. This same political son was also general manager of the great company which proposed to en-compass all Utah industries and, by the money already in its possession, give em-ployment to the idle masses and to breathe the breath of life into the dead and dying industries of Utah. Then Mr. George Q. Cannon was interviewed by the representa-tive of a Chicago paper, and by that paper was made to say that he was a protection-ist, and, inferentially, a Republican. It must also be borne in mind that Mr. Cannon had become a sugar manufacturer, and had personal pecuniary interests in a beet-sugar factory, for which he favored a bounty. This was some time after a Republican Con-gress had expelled him from its pure asso-ciations because he was "too numerously married."
Joseph Smith's Political Speech.
Then Mr. Joseph F. Smith made a public political speech in which he declared Re-publicans were justified in withholding Statehood from Utah because her people were Democratic. He went so far as to say that, had he been the Republican Party and Utah (known to be Democratic to a man) had asked admission, he would have refused her, as the Republican Party had. This public declaration of illiberal views at-tracted the widest attention, and was fol-lowed by most unfavorable comment. The Democratic prints, in terms of too great mildness, rebuked him for his illiberality. Mr. Smith replied through the columns of The Tribune—which oftentimes of old had called him everything but a decent man-repeating his statement in the Democratic papers with many gratuitous and offensive explanations. He was again handled with a gentleness and consideration that nothing but the fear of giving offense to the devout in his faith could have secured for him. Then Mr. George Q. Cannon on a Sabbath day arose in the Tabernacle and with most unusual warmth denounced these at-tacks on Mr. Smith Without mentioning Mr. Smith's name. He said the saints should not take such papers into their homes. He declared he had not read the articles, but they were bad, all the same. It was sug-gested that he had saved up wrath that properly should have been directed against Sabbath desecrations at the salt-air bathing resort in which he had financial interest, and had turned his whole batteries on the politicians and press at work to prevent the election of his political son.
Then The Deseret News, the Church or-gan, edited by the literary son of Mr. Can-non and managed by the apostolic son of Mr. Cannon, took up the gauge and indorsed the sayings of his father, denounced the Democratic politicians and Democratic press without mentioning Democrats or Democ-racy, and made it clear that even in a Church organ the bone of business advan-tage may not be forgotten, since the Saints, if they quit taking the Democratic papers, naturally would turn to the Church organ for the news.
VII.
The Utah Sugar Factory, already men-tioned, became a factor in the campaign. While the Statehood bill was pending in Congress the hand of the Sugar Trust ap-peared and almost defeated the passage of the bill by exciting the fears of Demo-crats that the trust Would control the Terri-tory. But the bill passed. It leaked out also that Gen. J. S. Clarkson had, as the representative of a money syndicate in the East, been negotiating with the people of the Utah Company. It also transpired that the absorption of the Utah Sugar Factory was … and the Utah Company was to send its bonds East for disposal. It was also under-stood that Mr. Clarkson represented the Sugar Trust. And a belief existed, and not without reason, that two Senators from Utah could be obtained as cheaply as from any other point. These views, together with many others, gave warrant for the fear that even as good a man as Mr. Cannon, to pre-vent impending disaster to himself and associates financially, might feel warranted in making an alliance that would bring much money into Utah and give work to her people, possessing all the while the as-surance that he could control them politic-ally in the future as he had in the past, and so, if it was to his welfare, avert the calamity of having Utah, a Republican Territory, represented in the National Con-gress by Sugar Trust representatives.
Understanding with the Sugar Trust.
The suspicion did exist and exist generally—not as to President Woodruff, (he was too aged and too honest to contemplate a wrong of any kind,) not as to Mr. Smith, (because he has not a business head,) but as to Mr. Frank J. Cannon, the political son of Mr. George Q. Cannon, and as to the leader of the Mormon Church, Mr. G. Q. Cannon. Yes, that there was an understanding between them and the Sugar Trust. And so one of the Democratic orators—Judge O. W. Pow-ers—some two weeks before the close of the campaign, put a number of Sugar Trust questions to this political son of Mr. Can-non. He put them at a number of meetings, and finally, a few days before the election, in the columns of The Deseret News, the Church organ, the political son of Mr. Can-non denied the intimations of Mr. Powers. In the same issue also appeared a denial from Messrs. Woodruff, Cannon, and Smith, the First Presidency, of any connection with the trust. In the same issue of the Church organ the literary son of Mr. Can-non also attacked Judge Powers and his statement. These documents were consid-ered so valuable that the Republican cam-paign managers had 40,000 of them stricken off and circulated them among all the Saints. Mr. Powers wrote a reply, but the Church organ declined to give it space, and so matters went to the election.
A Voice from One Gibbs.
Mr. Charles W. Penrose, a Churchman of much prominence, formerly and for years editor of The News until it, together with all other Church publications, fell into the insatiable hands of, the Cannons, is a stanch Democrat. He was stumping for the Democracy during the campaign. Mr. Penrose is also editor of The Herald, the Democratic organ in Utah. In the course of his speeches he stated the fact already given here, that while in Congress Mr. George. Q. Cannon was a Democrat. Tak-ing this as a text, the person already named—one G. F. Gibbs—as meddling with politics ecclesiastically and still retaining his posi-tion came out in an article in The Tribune, the Republican organ, and declared that Mr. Penrose's statement that Mr. Cannon was a Democrat was untrue. He added that he was authorized to state that Mr. Cannon was a believer in protection and bounties, which put him outside the pale of Democracy. He signed himself as Secre-tary, and said he had written the letter be-cause Mr. Cannon was absent in Idaho. This letter, which was addressed personally to a man in Ogden, was without date, and appeared in The Tribune the morning after Mr. Cannon arrived back from Idaho. It was published about two days before the election. Who authorized this Gibbs to speak for Mr. Cannon does not appear; what he was Secretary of he did not say; but he is the Secretary of the First Presi-dency, and it was therefore taken that the First Presidency had instructed him to de-clare inferentially that Mr. Cannon was not a Democrat, but did believe in bounties and in protection, and therefore, in the nature of things, was a Republican. It was also construed as a desire on the part of the Church authorities to have Mr. Can-non's political son elected.
Mr. Woodruff's Early Vote.
Mr. Woodruff is a Democrat. He has said so repeatedly. He has said that his father before him was a Democrat. Yet this guileless old man was induced to vote for the political son of Mr. Cannon. He voted early in the morning, publicly reject-ing a Democratic ticket offered him and publicly voting the Republican ticket. This fact was immediately telegraphed over the whole Territory; and the vicinity of the polling places was placarded with the statement. I am told the telegrams and placards were prepared before Mr. Woodruff voted, and the belief is widespread that an intrigue to this end had been entered into between the Republican campaign managers and those whose influence was strong enough to con-vince an honest old man that he should vote against the convictions of a lifetime in order that the political son of Mr. George Q. Cannon should be a delegate to Congress from Utah. But how Mr. Cannon voted is not divulged.
But this is not all. If any people have earnestly demanded for office the selection of good men, of men honest and faithful and sober and pure of life, the Mormons are that people. Yet at this election, in Salt Lake County and City alone, Republicans nominated, among others to whom the making of the State Constitution should be entrusted, saloon keepers and other men notoriously of ill repute and unsavory repu-tations. The vote of that revered man, Mr. Woodruff, for Republicans was construed as a warrant for like conduct on the part of his faithful followers.
Not Like the "Ashland District."
Not only this, but in electing the political son of George Q. Cannon, the Mormon peo-ple did what the voters of Ashland District, Ky., (where no especial claim to religious sanctity is made) refused to do—they elected a man whose moral character dare not be held aloft as an example, even though he be the political son of Mr. Cannon—and this same people rejected the services of a high-minded, scholarly, hard-working man, whose bitterest enemies even declare him to be upright, honest, and pure in life.
Yet Mr. George Q. Cannon has never stated publicly his political convictions. This is a part …e history of, Utah and of MR. Cannon … election on therewith, … existing problem in Utah is, Will Mr. Can-non be a candidate for United States as a Democrat or as a Republican?
Results of Election in 1892 and 1894.
In connection with the letter from our correspondent at Salt Lake City, the fol-lowing figures, showing the results of the elections of 1892 and 1894, will be read with interest:
1892. 1894.
Dem. Rep. Dem. Rep.
Arizona 7,152 5,171 4,772 5,650
Idaho *10,330 8,350 7,833 10,208
Nevada *7,267 2,822 5,214 3,887
New-Mexico 15,799 15,220 15,351 17,887
Utah 15,201 12,390 19,505 21,320
Wyoming *7,722 8,454 6,965 10,149
*People’s Silver

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SOLD TO REPUBLICANS
Utah Auctioned Off by George Q. Cannon.
AN ECCLESIASTICAL "PULL"
Which Is Mighty in Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, and Nevada.
EIGHT SENATORSHIPS INVOLVED
Cannon Seems to Have Made a Polit-ical Deal to Help His Bus-iness Enterprises. THERE ARE TRACES OF SUGAR TRUST
Cannon's Son Becomes a Delegate to Congress—Is He Looking To-ward the Senate?
I.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 12.—With-out doubt the most remarkable figure in the Rocky Mountains, and one of the most conspicuous developments of recent times is to be found, in Utah. The late political contest here, which resulted in the election of a Republican Delegate to Congress by a community recognized for years as over-whelmingly Democratic is the culmination of a domination which has its strength in a strong religious prejudice.
The revolution was as startling and as striking, although of an absolutely different nature as was the election of Mayor Strong in New-York City last November. Sitting in the Fifth Avenue Hotel a week after the downfall of the Tammany Tiger, the cor-respondent of The New-York Times heard comments on the defeat of the powerful Tammany organization, which were similar to those heard in many parts of this would-be State. The revolution here still excites comment in both parties.
The Mormon people had their prophet, Joseph Smith—a bold, strong man, and pro-phetic beyond cavil to those that believed in the prophetic. Then came Brigham Young, a man of courage, far-seeing, of profound and statesmanlike sagacity. Since the death of the latter the one man whose … its people beyond the views of all others is George Q. Cannon. Worthy or unworthy as a successor to power, none can deny Mr. Cannon's strength. His sway, however, has been extended under different conditions and by different methods from those of the strong men preceding him. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young exerted direct influ-ence. Mr. Cannon, in his ways, is so im-personal, so indirect, that rarely any public indication of the exertion of his influence is discernible.
Chief Counselor of the Church.
One of the twelve apostles at the death of Brigham Young—but one of mark, Mr. Cannon—became the Chief Counselor, or one of the quorum of the first Presidency, when John Taylor succeeded to the Presi-dency of the Church. The same position he holds with Wilford Woodruff, who suc-ceeded John Taylor. He has been recog-nized as the power behind the throne since the death of Brigham Young. While in their younger days both John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff were strong men, they were advanced in years when the Church leadership foil upon them. It is therefore not surprising that a man of Mr. Cannon's seemingly devout determination to serve should be able to mold affairs to his own mind, if not to his own ends.
The result of his life's work is viewed variously, even by those of his own faith, but it cannot be forgotten, despite the trials and losses besetting his people, that Mr. Cannon and his family have continued to wax strong in numbers, to become noted in local finances, to gain strength in Church affairs, and to succeed in political direc-tions. A man as devout as Mr. Cannon must give credit to Providence for these manifold manifestations of Divine approval. The scoffer will declare that Providence has not chosen fruitless soil, nor failed to employ in the work of advancing the Can-non interests intellects keen enough to take advantage of the opportunities bountifully spread before them.
The general advancement of the Cannon family and the singular alienation of the Mormon people from an old and strong po-litical bias constitute a singular coinci-dence. This coincidence, viewed in the light of approaching Statehood for Utah, and mindful of the impress of thought and feeling imposed by her people upon sur-rounding States, gives to the conditions in Utah an importance that is far from being local in its effects.
In Arizona, in Idaho, in Wyoming, in Ne-vada, are Mormon communities whose every aspiration is in perfect touch with the Mormon people in Utah. With the great parties nearly evenly divided, the weight of the Mormon vote in any of the Govern-mental sub-divisions named would deter-mine which party should succeed.
Visit from Clarkson and Manley.
The presence in Salt Lake City of Gen. J. S. Clarkson and Joe Manley immediately succeeding the recent Republican victory in Utah can hardly be deemed an accident. As Utah goes so also will go Idaho and Wy-oming and Arizona, (when the latter is admitted to Statehood,) and thus eight United States Senators may be controlled, while Nevada may also be swayed to like action. Here, therefore, is a condition sufficiently important to attract the atten-tion and command the interest of the prac-tical politician, as well as to excite the desire for control in those vested interests whose great earnings depend so vitally upon their power to direct legislation. In re-spect to Senators, Utah alone is as im-portant as New-York or Louisiana. When it becomes clear that as Utah goes so also will go Wyoming, Idaho, and Arizona, and when the value of the help which that will give to the Republican Party and to the trusts is understood, the Senators from these localities may not be overestimated.
With this explanation, the high position of a man of Mr. Cannon's peculiar methods may more clearly be understood. In this relationship he stands out as the most im-portant and unique character in the West. The value of his co-operation has not been overestimated by Republicans the Nation over; it has not been overestimated by the far-seeing Democrats in Utah, though seemingly Ignored by the national leaders of the party. That the possible outcome may be predicted, it is perhaps well to know what manner of man this George Q. Cannon is, and this must be judged from history alone—for, as has al-ready been stated, his life, work, aspira-tions, and even religious bias, are matters on which his own people possess no uniform opinion—many of the humbler and more devout having strong faith in him, many of the more worldy, especially those as-sociated with him in business, viewing him as a man who possesses much and helps himself.
Many Elements of Power.
Take the leader of Tammany Hall in New-York, for his power, purely political; add the traction magnate In Philadelphia for the business element of statesmanship; add the white-haired, ruddy-faced plantation owner of the Southern States for the fam-ily connections and traditional influence, and you have some of the salient elements. He is a quiet man away from home. I have seen him in the Hoffman House in New-York City, reading a dozen newspapers in half an hour, entering and leaving the hotel by the ladies' entrance, dining alone in the café, always evidently thinking of something far away, good-natured, and dip-lomatically genial if approached.
He is a man of very large family, so large that his own followers have been heard to declare that offices of emolument in the gift of the people could not be creat-ed fast enough to supply his steadily-in-creasing progeny. This utterance is, of course, extreme. His family, however, is large, and he does manifest a proper and fatherly interest in seeing that they are not unprovided for, even though it be at the public expense.
II.
His only known income has been the amount allowed by the Church to its twelve Apostles and its Presidency—about $ 3,000 a year each. Mr. Cannon could not have sup-ported his family on this money, and facts show that it has not been done. His name is found associated with the largest en-terprises in the Territory. He is a miner, a merchant, a real estate owner, a banker, a railroad proprietor, a manufacturer, a farmer, a publisher, an editor, an ecclesiast, the owner of coal fields, a cattle raiser, a promoter of power and other enterprises, and withal a politician. With so large a family, with such a limited income, yet' with such varied interests, it is not supris-ing that many envious ones should question the ways of Mr. Cannon and intimate that he is not above utilizing his ecclesastical opportunities to aid himself and family financially.
Despite the fact that Brigham Young was opposed to mining, Mr. Cannon is engaged in this pursuit. It came about through cer-tain so-called "consecrated" stock.
Mr. Cannon Became a Miner.
A man named. John Beck discovered the Bullion Beck mining claim, and, after the ships, proved that he had a mine. But he was beset with difficulties. He was a de-vout man, and a Mormon. He appealed to his ecclesiastical superiors, among whom was Mr. Cannon, and the result was that Mr. Beck "consecrated" a certain inter-est in his mine, and stock in this mine fell to Mr. Cannon. He did not pay for it, though promising to do so, and by way of compromise part of the stock was returned, Mr. Cannon retaining the balance for nothing. Then the mine made money and the stock became valuable. Mr. Cannon demanded back the interest he had yielded Mr. Beck, in lieu of paying him, and offered to pay for the surrendered stock. Mr. Beck ob-jected, but Mr. Beck was, and is, very careless about money matters, while Mr. Cannon seems to be the reverse. So a time came when Beck needed money. Mr. Can-non loaned Beck his personal influence, and then forced the unfortunate Beck, his re-ligious brother, to agree to pay him some $35,000 for the stock Mr. Cannon had never paid for, and which he had voluntarily re-leased. There are said to have been sur-face indications of many nasty things con-nected with the Bullion Beck mining inter-ests, but Mr. Cannon has held on, and that is how he became and is a miner.
An Owner of Real Estate.
For years the Church was engaged in va-rious business pursuits, Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution among others. When the Government took steps to close the busi-ness career of the Church, its stocks were divided up, and its real estate as well, and Mr. Cannon's sons and brother became own-ers of property which is said still to remain in their names. A few are free to declare that the Church has not been paid for all this. No one could prove such a statement, the Church accounts and records being kept from the public eye, and from the knowl-edge even of Church members on the ground that this information might enable Govern-ment officials to dispossess the Church, though why this precaution was necessary, if individuals instead of the Church owned the property, is not explained, unless to avoid unprofitable exposures for those hav-ing distributed the Church's vast and diver-sified interests. But no one can prove that the Church has not been paid for the prop-erty indicated by those possessing it. And so he became a real estate owner.
So He Became a Banker.
At an early day a number of persons high in Church influence organized Zion's Trust and Savings Bank. Mr. Cannon was one of them. The envious declare it was start-ed with the notes of the organizers in lieu of money—a palpable violation of law—and that the devoted and humble followers, hav-ing as much faith in the bank projectors financially as they yielded to them relig-iously, gave these gentlemen charge con-cerning their earnings, just as they had already given them charge concerning their spiritual guidance. Be all this as it may, the bank grew, and is to-day a financial factor in Utah, and Mr. Cannon is one of its principal men. So he became a banker.
An Ecclesiastical Merchant.
He is a Director in Zion's Co-operative and Mercantile Institution, that colossal es-tablishment founded by the late Brigham Young. By virtue of his connection with the Church, Mr. Cannon is a Director and a figure of import in control of this great store. So also is President Woodruff, de-spite his eighty-eight years. So also is Joseph F. Smith. These gentlemen consti-tute the Presidency of the Mormon Church and are leading influences in the concerns of Zion's Co-operative and Mercantile Insti-tution by reason of their ecclesiastical posi-tions. So Mr. Cannon became a merchant.
And Next an Editor.
Mr. Cannon is a man of undoubted liter-ary ability. He has been a deep reader of history. He is a public speaker of much ease, and would have been one of great power but for the fear steadily grown upon him that he would say something in his ad-dresses which, in later times, would rise to confront and annoy him. The conse-quence has been an excess of caution as to utterances which have destroyed a gift both for writing and for speaking, striking enough to have made another man marked. Out of all this has come the inevitable product of disguised feelings—a permeating air of insincerity, a constant questioning in the public mind as to the views of this man. Placed in a position where people turned to him for light, he has deliberately refused to emit, though he writes much and speaks much, and controversies are frequent among his own people, not alone as to his political views, but as to his convictions on matters no less important, though perhaps at times occupying less of public attention. He is editor, publisher, and owner of The Juvenile Instructor, a Church work supposedly for juveniles, but containing, nevertheless, doc-trine for the old. And so he became an editor.
At Length a Publisher.
George Q. Cannon & Sons own The Con-tributor, a Church publication. They do the printing for The Woman's Exponent and for The Historical Record, both Church publica-tions.
No Church work of any kind is published except by George Q. Cannon & Sons.
The recent history of Utah, from the gift-ed pen of Bishop O. F. Whitney, is now controlled by George Q. Cannon & Sons.
The Deseret Evening News, The Deseret Semi-Weekly News, and The Deseret Week-ly News are owned by the sons of Mr. Can-non. They are Church organs. The faithful are asked to contribute to the sustenance of all these varied publications as a matter of duty. When they have done so, they have, in the goodness of their faithful hearts, also contributed to the support of the progeny of this singular man, as well as to support this singular man himself. And so he be-came a publisher.
One of Mr. Cannon's sons is the editor of the leading Mormon newspaper, The Evening News. Another is to represent the Mormon people in Congress, as Delegate, and still another is a member of the Twelve Apostles and hat; control of the financial end of these varied publications, the latter being the apostolic son of Mr. Cannon. Mr. Cannon's brother (Angus) is President of the principal geographical Church subdi-vision; another brother presides over an-other subdivision, while Mr. Cannon him-self is recognized and conceded to be the controller and director of the Church's af-fairs in everything but name.
III.
Some four years ago, after considerable investigation, it was determined that sugar could be manufactured at a profit in Utah from beets. The General Government sub-sequently gave a bounty and the Territory also gave restricted encouragement by bounty. Utah from end to end was can-vassed for subscriptions, and the aid of the Church through the First Presidency was invoked to induce the faithful to take from their little savings and contribute toward the encouragement and establishment of this institution. President Woodruff's name was freely used, and, despite the mixed feel-ings and views of the saints as to Mr. Cannon, it must be confessed that the peo-ple love and still believe Mr. Woodruff to be absolutely honest, though by no means as worldly wise as the younger a… forehanded members of his p… quorum The story was established; Mr. Cannon was, as usual, a prime factor in it, and he is to this day, though his per-sonal holdings are not believed to be very large. And so he became a manufacturer.
The Church's Beach Pavilion.
About this time, also, the bathing in the Great Salt Lake had become a great tempta-tion to the people by reason of the unusual attractions at Garfield Beach—the proper-ty of the Union Pacific Railroad. It must be admitted that the morals of the people were not improved by the Sunday and night trains to and from the resort. The Church dignitaries, mindful that the people must have amusement, cast about for such re-lease from these Sabbath desecrations as would be more effective than the weekly and unheeded admonition, of the pulpit and of the Church press. At last it was found that members of the Church owned a beach in no wise inferior to that at Garfield, in some respects superior, and also much near-er. This discovery and the anxiety to save the people from that sinful contamination to which association at Garfield Beach sub-jected them, crystallized in a plan to con-struct a railroad from the city, and es-tablish a new resort. The Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railway—fifteen miles long—and the Saltair Pavilion (the latter unequaled in this or any other section) were the results. The conception and execution are worthy each other and deserve the ad-miration of all who behold them. But this work contracted the finances of the project-ors to a point where they were unable to carry the self-imposed load. Hard times came on. The great Temple at Salt Lake was nearing completion, and calls were made on the people to contribute to the speedy opening of this grand edifice, that it might the sooner be dedicated to its sa-cred purposes.
A Railroad Proprietor.
It is said that, between the anxiety of the First Presidency to get the temple finished and to protect their Saltair interests, cer-tain moneys given for the express use of the temple accidentally found their way into the coffers of the Saltair Company. Of course, this accident could only happen where the funds of both institutions were controlled by and passed through the same set of hands. And so Mr. Cannon became a railroad proprietor.
Another coincidence—and one may be for-given a little surprise at the frequency of coincidences-in all these details—is that when the bathing resort, built to preserve the saints from contact with evil-minded and pleasure-seeking people had been fin-ished, there ceased to appear in the columns of the Church organ (owned by Mr. Can- non's sons and edited by one of them) those weighty articles against desecrating the Sabbath by relaxation at the lake. The pulpit, it is also declared, was silent, despite the fact that sacred concerts for the Sab-bath, (up stairs—a bar rich in liquors down stairs,) and dances for week nights, were the rage at the new pavilion. I am told that the sacred concerts even received a pulpit indorsement, so changed became the sentiment when the saints gathered at their own resort, helped through with temple funds, and having the backing of that re-markable man, George Q. Cannon.
He Became a Promoter.
About this time money became more diffi-cult of procurement, tithing payments by the people were diminishing, the bounty was withdrawn from sugar, litigation was imminent in his mining interests, and collec-tions on publications owned by George Q. Cannon & Sons became well-nigh impossible. It could not, therefore, be otherwise than that a man of Mr. Cannon's public spirit and various investments should feel somewhat the weight of financial misfortune. To avert a general disaster, other incorpora-tions were conceived, and that the breath of suspicion might not in justice be turned against these schemes Presidents Wood-ruff and Joseph F. Smith were made par-ties with Mr. Cannon in these new organi-zations. A colossal power-dam scheme was projected at Ogden, and Mr. F. J. Cannon, the political son of this remarkable man, was put to the fore. This held public at-tention for a while. And so Mr. Cannon became a promoter.
Then a Projector of Railroads.
Then the Utah Company was formed. It is capitalized at $10,000,000. This company is possessed of Saltair Beach, the Inland Salt Company's lands, the Salt Lake and Los Angeles Railway, and some six hundred acres of coal lands in Summit County, Utah, which, until the Utah Company organiza-tion was made public, had popularly been looked upon as the property of the Church or its people. However, by the organization of the Utah Company, with its colossal cap-ital, it became evident that any right of the Church as a whole to these really valuable coal lands had entirely vanished, as the pub-lic press announced, and announced clearly, even in the columns of the Church organ, The News, edited by Mr. Cannon's news-paper son, that, while all three of the First Presidency of the Church were members of the Utah Company, the investment was a personal one, and was not made by them as members of the Church: Thus it ap-peared that Saltair, with its temple contri-butions, and the coal fields, with their Church associations, had at last found an abiding place, where their ownership would no longer be disputed. Iron mines in Iron County, and the sugar factory at Lehi, were also to be absorbed by this company. There is nothing conceivable in the way of invest-ment or industrial development, from bank-ing to cattle raising, from railroad building to giving spectacular ballets at Saltair, that the charter of the Utah Company does not permit. And so Mr. Cannon became a rail-road projector.
An Enterprise That Droops.
When the incorporation of this stupendous Company was announced, it was officially de-clared that there was already behind it an abundance of Utah money, and that work was to begin at once—work that would vi-talize every incipient and drooping industry. But work has not yet commenced, and three or four times Mr. Cannon and his political son have made trips to Eastern financial centres, with the avowed purpose of raising money to build railroads and do the other things that the Utah Company was ostensi-bly organized to promote. Despite the fact that encouraging reports always have been sent to the Utah press, which are greedily sought for and published as rays of glad-dening light, the money has not yet been procured.
IV.
And there are those who are free to aver that this Utah company was organized that it might secure to Mr. Cannon financial aid and continue him in political control of the Territory, and that, in the effort to se-cure money for his projects, he has been Willing to pledge such manipulation of poli-tics in the new State as will answer all the desires of those advancing the heeded funds. Since Republican money is made largely by investments which are followed by political control, it is explained that the change of heart or support by Mr. Cannon of Republicanism may be thus accounted for.
It must be clear that Mr. Cannon has accomplished all that has been said of him by reason of his Church connections. In every phase of his life, in every design foreshadowed by existing conditions, in every accomplished fact, we see the work-ing of a mind that recognizes the religious bias of a people ready to be guided and a Willingness on the part of Mr. Cannon to Utilize the faith of the people to all the tends he may wish to accomplish.
He knows but one way to bring about re-sults—by the use of the people of his faith. They are his mine, since their tithing is yielded tip to his disposition; they are his political henchmen, since they heed his… of things they are his guarantee before m… be done herea…, as is shown in the successes of the past. It is, there-fore, little wonder that he should in the hour of need strive to discount the results of the future by pledging continued control where he has so long been supreme.
As a Politician.
No one but Mr. Cannon knows absolutely Mr. Cannon's political motives, or can ac-curately fathom the political ends he is striving for. Viewing him without prejudice, his methods warrant the belief that he takes kindly to that peculiar process of de-duction which is said to be the distinguish-ing characteristic of the Jesuit. I am told of many things which lead to the inevitable conclusion that with Mr. Cannon the end warrants the means employed always. And the result of the recent election in Utah seems to make plain the determination of Mr. Cannon to throw the weight of his in-fluence with Republicans, as against the party he has hitherto sided with, and to which he, in common with the Mormon people generally, turned when in search of relief from oppressive, if not unfair, legis-lation.
For several years Mr. Cannon represented the people of Utah in Congress. Like his predecessors and his successors, he took his seat with Democrats in the House in all the years that the Republicans had control of the Government. What better evidence could be had of the Democracy of Utah's saints than the sending year after year to Congress to represent them one of their mighty men, who always ranged himself with Democrats? This undeniable fact is what gives rise to so much discussion as to the apparent efforts of Mr. Cannon now, and the semi-official action of the Church in reversing the precedents of forty years only when the political son of Mr. Cannon enters the arena as a Republican against a stalwart, upright, honorable Democrat, whose work for Utah's people in the space of one session of Congress has been so Unusual as to challenge not alone the won-der, but the admiration, of all fair-minded people.
V.
When Mr. Cleveland was first elected President there was great rejoicing all through Utah, for it was then believed that a friend, the chief of a friendly party, had at length been chosen by the people of the Whole Nation to the Presidency. Mr. Cleve-land had heard the Mormon side of the controversy then raging; and, while the Edmunds-Tucker law was pending, W. L. Scott of Pennsylvania drafted an amend-ment to that bill which, in effect, provided that the law under consideration should remain inoperative until to the Mormon peo-ple was given time to adopt or refuse to adopt a Constitution in which the practice of polygamy should forever be prohibited. All this while the laws passed by Republicans were vigorously being pushed against Mor-mons by Republican hold-over officers, so vigorously that some were in the peniten-tiary while George Q. Cannon was out on $45,000 bail, (a bail he forfeited rather than face the Republican Judge, one Zane.)
This state of affairs, as has already been noted, was in existence when Mr. Scott prepared this amendment to the Edmunds-Tucker bill. It was submitted to the heads of the Mormon Church. They were asked to approve the plan, and I have had it as-serted to the in most solemn terms that the answer was that the Mormon people could not surrender this principle of polygamy. This answer, it is declared, was signed by George Q. Cannon and others.
They Surrendered Polygamy.
Again, in 1887, the Mormon people held a Constitutional Convention. Wholly by the direction of the Church, that convention voted to put a clause in the proposed State Constitution by which the practice of polyg-amy was forever to be prohibited. This was less than six months from the time when the Church authorities had declared the Mormon people should never surrender this principle of their faith, the practice of which they held was commanded and en-joined by the Almighty. I have had men tell me that when this provision was before the members of the Constitutional Con-vention, they asked what they could say to the wives taken by them under Divine au-thority. What name they could give to the children born under this so-called celestial covenant when they had proclaimed by the Constitution of the proposed State that they would no longer support this doctrine. With tears in their eyes and shame in their hearts, it is said these men asked if this provision of revocation was the will of God. And the answer was, "It is the will of the Presidency, which should be the will of God to you," and the provision was adopted.
The “Test Oath” in Idaho.
Then came the anti-Mormon legislation in the new State of Idaho. A test oath was passed which made it impossible for Mor-mons to vote without the certainty of the penitentiary awaiting them. That this law was the work of Republicans is shown by the fact that William Budge—the leading Mormon in Idaho—and Charles W. Nibley, his son-in-law, and others urged a great many of the Mormon people to withdraw from the Church, that by so doing they might vote for John Hailey, the Democratic nominee for Representative to Congress from that State. Any person acquainted with the history of Mormons will compre-hend that neither William Budge nor C. W. Nibley, however unscrupulous, would dare engage in such an infamous undertaking without the sanction of the chief Church officials, and the general feeling is that there was not then any other chief than Mr. Cannon, any more than there is now any other chief. The advice was followed by some, and they left the Church forever.
Then came the proclamation of the Church authorities, promising that no more polygamous marriages should be solemnized or permitted by the Church in Utah- a proclamation which has, I be-lieve, been faithfully observed. Then the local parties in Utah began to disappear—People's Party and Liberal Party—and they were supplanted Democratic and Republic.
VI.
The people were overwhelmingly Demo-cratic. All their associations, all their friends, all their hopes had been centred in that party. The first general election showed this clearly. The first Presidency—Wilford Woodruff, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph P. Smith—solemnly and under oath declared that the Church would take its hands off, and that the people were free to vote and act politically as they pleased. That Mr. Woodruff was and has been sin-cere no one disbelieves, but numerous sus-picious circumstances surround Messrs. Cannon and Smith, which have caused many to question their honesty in this regard. Singularly enough, a new idea found very wide circulation among the saints immediately after their division on national party lines, viz.: that it was not in the interest of the Mormon people that they should all vote one way. On the con-trary, they should be as nearly evenly divided as possible. There are Church offi-cials who have been heard to announce publicly from the pulpit that it was the wish of the first Presidency that the people should be nearly evenly divided. The rea-son for such a doctrine, after the teach-ing to the people for years that they should see eye to eye, and be as one man in all the concerns of life can readily be seen in a determination to retain control politically by having the people so evenly divided that the "weight of a yellow dog," as one man put it, would decide the election. Church understrappers, according to existing affi-davits, used these arguments privily, and declared that the leaders of the Church felt Republican success in Utah was nec-essary to the material salvation of the saints. Proofs of flagrant interference were submitted, yet the understrappers still oc-cupy their Church positions, and it is freely declared they retain these positions because Mr. Cannon so wills it. A no-torious case was that of one G. F. Gibbs, a person of most ordinary parts, mentally as well as physically, and who is other-wise cited here only because of a later con-nection of his.
Sudden Change of Doctrine.
Pronounced Democrats began suddenly to advocate Republican doctrines. Such men as William Budge and C. W. Nibley—al-ready referred to in disgraceful connection in trying to get Mormons to leave the Church to vote the Democratic ticket in Idaho—began to out-Herod Herod in be-half of Republican doctrines. The effect of all this was manifest in Republican gains in a later legislative election in the Territory. To bring about this end most unusual means must have been employed, the details of which are too lengthy, but show, nevertheless, that a strong religious undercurrent, coming from a potent yet unknown source, was working ceaselessly in Republican interests. In 1893, with still a plurality, Democrats lost and Republic-ans gained control of the Legislature. In 1894 the political son of Mr. Cannon de-feated the Democratic nominee in the Con-gressional election by nearly 2,000 votes, and certain Church influences are responsi-ble for it—perhaps not for the immediate result, but by the infinite number of un-published ways peculiar to men long accus-tomed to and familiar with this method of manoeuvring, men high in ecclesiastical power, the end was achieved. Who will say Mr. Cannon is not a politician?
It seems impossible that such a result could have been brought about without the cognizance and certain support of such a man as Mr. Cannon. Not until within two months of the recent election did Mr. Can-non in any public, way give evidence of any political preference, if then.
Cannon Turned Republican.
It must not be forgotten that, all the while those quiet methods were being pur-sued which resulted in the ungrateful de-bauchery of the people, the manifold mate-rial interests of Mr. Cannon were also reaching a climax, and the existence of the Utah Company, with its $10,000,000 capital, though it had been organized months be-fore, was only made public, simultaneously with the proclamation in all the morning papers that Mr. Cannon's political son was the unanimous choice of the Republican Party for Delegate to Congress. This same political son was also general manager of the great company which proposed to en-compass all Utah industries and, by the money already in its possession, give em-ployment to the idle masses and to breathe the breath of life into the dead and dying industries of Utah. Then Mr. George Q. Cannon was interviewed by the representa-tive of a Chicago paper, and by that paper was made to say that he was a protection-ist, and, inferentially, a Republican. It must also be borne in mind that Mr. Cannon had become a sugar manufacturer, and had personal pecuniary interests in a beet-sugar factory, for which he favored a bounty. This was some time after a Republican Con-gress had expelled him from its pure asso-ciations because he was "too numerously married."
Joseph Smith's Political Speech.
Then Mr. Joseph F. Smith made a public political speech in which he declared Re-publicans were justified in withholding Statehood from Utah because her people were Democratic. He went so far as to say that, had he been the Republican Party and Utah (known to be Democratic to a man) had asked admission, he would have refused her, as the Republican Party had. This public declaration of illiberal views at-tracted the widest attention, and was fol-lowed by most unfavorable comment. The Democratic prints, in terms of too great mildness, rebuked him for his illiberality. Mr. Smith replied through the columns of The Tribune—which oftentimes of old had called him everything but a decent man-repeating his statement in the Democratic papers with many gratuitous and offensive explanations. He was again handled with a gentleness and consideration that nothing but the fear of giving offense to the devout in his faith could have secured for him. Then Mr. George Q. Cannon on a Sabbath day arose in the Tabernacle and with most unusual warmth denounced these at-tacks on Mr. Smith Without mentioning Mr. Smith's name. He said the saints should not take such papers into their homes. He declared he had not read the articles, but they were bad, all the same. It was sug-gested that he had saved up wrath that properly should have been directed against Sabbath desecrations at the salt-air bathing resort in which he had financial interest, and had turned his whole batteries on the politicians and press at work to prevent the election of his political son.
Then The Deseret News, the Church or-gan, edited by the literary son of Mr. Can-non and managed by the apostolic son of Mr. Cannon, took up the gauge and indorsed the sayings of his father, denounced the Democratic politicians and Democratic press without mentioning Democrats or Democ-racy, and made it clear that even in a Church organ the bone of business advan-tage may not be forgotten, since the Saints, if they quit taking the Democratic papers, naturally would turn to the Church organ for the news.
VII.
The Utah Sugar Factory, already men-tioned, became a factor in the campaign. While the Statehood bill was pending in Congress the hand of the Sugar Trust ap-peared and almost defeated the passage of the bill by exciting the fears of Demo-crats that the trust Would control the Terri-tory. But the bill passed. It leaked out also that Gen. J. S. Clarkson had, as the representative of a money syndicate in the East, been negotiating with the people of the Utah Company. It also transpired that the absorption of the Utah Sugar Factory was … and the Utah Company was to send its bonds East for disposal. It was also under-stood that Mr. Clarkson represented the Sugar Trust. And a belief existed, and not without reason, that two Senators from Utah could be obtained as cheaply as from any other point. These views, together with many others, gave warrant for the fear that even as good a man as Mr. Cannon, to pre-vent impending disaster to himself and associates financially, might feel warranted in making an alliance that would bring much money into Utah and give work to her people, possessing all the while the as-surance that he could control them politic-ally in the future as he had in the past, and so, if it was to his welfare, avert the calamity of having Utah, a Republican Territory, represented in the National Con-gress by Sugar Trust representatives.
Understanding with the Sugar Trust.
The suspicion did exist and exist generally—not as to President Woodruff, (he was too aged and too honest to contemplate a wrong of any kind,) not as to Mr. Smith, (because he has not a business head,) but as to Mr. Frank J. Cannon, the political son of Mr. George Q. Cannon, and as to the leader of the Mormon Church, Mr. G. Q. Cannon. Yes, that there was an understanding between them and the Sugar Trust. And so one of the Democratic orators—Judge O. W. Pow-ers—some two weeks before the close of the campaign, put a number of Sugar Trust questions to this political son of Mr. Can-non. He put them at a number of meetings, and finally, a few days before the election, in the columns of The Deseret News, the Church organ, the political son of Mr. Can-non denied the intimations of Mr. Powers. In the same issue also appeared a denial from Messrs. Woodruff, Cannon, and Smith, the First Presidency, of any connection with the trust. In the same issue of the Church organ the literary son of Mr. Can-non also attacked Judge Powers and his statement. These documents were consid-ered so valuable that the Republican cam-paign managers had 40,000 of them stricken off and circulated them among all the Saints. Mr. Powers wrote a reply, but the Church organ declined to give it space, and so matters went to the election.
A Voice from One Gibbs.
Mr. Charles W. Penrose, a Churchman of much prominence, formerly and for years editor of The News until it, together with all other Church publications, fell into the insatiable hands of, the Cannons, is a stanch Democrat. He was stumping for the Democracy during the campaign. Mr. Penrose is also editor of The Herald, the Democratic organ in Utah. In the course of his speeches he stated the fact already given here, that while in Congress Mr. George. Q. Cannon was a Democrat. Tak-ing this as a text, the person already named—one G. F. Gibbs—as meddling with politics ecclesiastically and still retaining his posi-tion came out in an article in The Tribune, the Republican organ, and declared that Mr. Penrose's statement that Mr. Cannon was a Democrat was untrue. He added that he was authorized to state that Mr. Cannon was a believer in protection and bounties, which put him outside the pale of Democracy. He signed himself as Secre-tary, and said he had written the letter be-cause Mr. Cannon was absent in Idaho. This letter, which was addressed personally to a man in Ogden, was without date, and appeared in The Tribune the morning after Mr. Cannon arrived back from Idaho. It was published about two days before the election. Who authorized this Gibbs to speak for Mr. Cannon does not appear; what he was Secretary of he did not say; but he is the Secretary of the First Presi-dency, and it was therefore taken that the First Presidency had instructed him to de-clare inferentially that Mr. Cannon was not a Democrat, but did believe in bounties and in protection, and therefore, in the nature of things, was a Republican. It was also construed as a desire on the part of the Church authorities to have Mr. Can-non's political son elected.
Mr. Woodruff's Early Vote.
Mr. Woodruff is a Democrat. He has said so repeatedly. He has said that his father before him was a Democrat. Yet this guileless old man was induced to vote for the political son of Mr. Cannon. He voted early in the morning, publicly reject-ing a Democratic ticket offered him and publicly voting the Republican ticket. This fact was immediately telegraphed over the whole Territory; and the vicinity of the polling places was placarded with the statement. I am told the telegrams and placards were prepared before Mr. Woodruff voted, and the belief is widespread that an intrigue to this end had been entered into between the Republican campaign managers and those whose influence was strong enough to con-vince an honest old man that he should vote against the convictions of a lifetime in order that the political son of Mr. George Q. Cannon should be a delegate to Congress from Utah. But how Mr. Cannon voted is not divulged.
But this is not all. If any people have earnestly demanded for office the selection of good men, of men honest and faithful and sober and pure of life, the Mormons are that people. Yet at this election, in Salt Lake County and City alone, Republicans nominated, among others to whom the making of the State Constitution should be entrusted, saloon keepers and other men notoriously of ill repute and unsavory repu-tations. The vote of that revered man, Mr. Woodruff, for Republicans was construed as a warrant for like conduct on the part of his faithful followers.
Not Like the "Ashland District."
Not only this, but in electing the political son of George Q. Cannon, the Mormon peo-ple did what the voters of Ashland District, Ky., (where no especial claim to religious sanctity is made) refused to do—they elected a man whose moral character dare not be held aloft as an example, even though he be the political son of Mr. Cannon—and this same people rejected the services of a high-minded, scholarly, hard-working man, whose bitterest enemies even declare him to be upright, honest, and pure in life.
Yet Mr. George Q. Cannon has never stated publicly his political convictions. This is a part …e history of, Utah and of MR. Cannon … election on therewith, … existing problem in Utah is, Will Mr. Can-non be a candidate for United States as a Democrat or as a Republican?
Results of Election in 1892 and 1894.
In connection with the letter from our correspondent at Salt Lake City, the fol-lowing figures, showing the results of the elections of 1892 and 1894, will be read with interest:
1892. 1894.
Dem. Rep. Dem. Rep.
Arizona 7,152 5,171 4,772 5,650
Idaho *10,330 8,350 7,833 10,208
Nevada *7,267 2,822 5,214 3,887
New-Mexico 15,799 15,220 15,351 17,887
Utah 15,201 12,390 19,505 21,320
Wyoming *7,722 8,454 6,965 10,149
*People’s Silver